What Is Yahoo (NASDAQ:YHOO)’s Actual Worth?

Yahoo! Inc.’s (NASDAQ: YHOO) has been targeted by some financial analysts and media who claim that the company has lost all value for its core business. They have gone further to say that its core business is likely to have a negative impact on Yahoo! Inc.’s (NASDAQ: YHOO)’s market cap after excluding its half Yahoo Japan ownership and stake in Alibaba.

Despite all such claims, it has been determined that Yahoo (NASDAQ:YHOO)! Search is worth $4 billion on its own. Yahoo (NASDAQ:YHOO) is a multinational internet corporation, globally recognized for its web portal, search engines, and other services like Yahoo Mail, Yahoo News, Yahoo Directory, Yahoo Finance, Yahoo Groups, Yahoo Answers, advertising, video sharing, mapping, sports and social media website.

In order to determine the company’s standing in the global market, an in-depth comparison analysis was conducted with companies like AOL Inc (NYSE:AOL) and Time Inc (NYSE:TIME). A study of their profit and loss statements and market share gives a clear insight into the strengths and weaknesses of Yahoo! Inc.’s (NASDAQ: YHOO)’s core business worth.

The arguments being presented are categorized in two areas of study. Firstly it is believed that Yahoo! Inc.’s (NASDAQ: YHOO)’s revenues seem to be declining with time; secondly, investments made into Yahoo! Inc.’s (NASDAQ: YHOO) made expansion possible without taking debts. This year Yahoo (NASDAQ:YHOO) is expected to have a GAAP revenue of about $4 billion and operating income should be $400 million.

AOL, on the other hand is expecting revenue of $2 billion and operating income of $225 million for the current year. Despite the low figures AOL has an added advantage of subscription business. The most recent quarter figures show an impressive sum of $136 million in cash or equivalents with a market cap of $3.4 billion.

Time’s revenue is expected to be $3.2 billion with the figures for operating income of $430 million for the year 2014. Its long term debts are of $1.4 billion and cash and cash equivalents are rounded at $204 million for the past quarter, with a market cap of $2.5 billion.

Another comparison drawn between the three companies was the volume of traffic flow. Yahoo (NASDAQ:YHOO) had 196.6 million number of visitors, whereas AOL had 117.4 million visitors respectively. Yahoo! Inc.’s (NASDAQ: YHOO) claims that it receives more than half a billion user traffic per month in more than 30 languages. In 2013, Yahoo exceeded Google on the number of visitors on its web portal for the first time since May 2011. A total of 196 million visitors in the U.S. alone caused an impressive traffic increase by 21% for the year 2013.

Since none of these companies can be investigated based on stock growth, arguments can only be based on profit and loss statements. On the basis of these studies, it can be concluded that Yahoo! Inc.’s (NASDAQ: YHOO) holds a much stronger position in the market as compared to AOL or Time. So withdrawal of Alibaba (NYSE:BABA) or Yahoo (NASDAQ:YHOO)! Japan, doesn’t really impact Yahoo (NASDAQ:YHOO)’s strength in the market.